Photo by Britt Griswold
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Denticetopsis royeroi Ferraris, 1996
Identification: Denticetopsis royeroi is distinguished from all of its congeners with the exception of D. sauli by the combination of the possession of elongate, symphyseal teeth on the dentary, a reduced lateral line not extending posteriorly on the body beyond the abdomen, an edentulous vomer, a dorsal fin with only 4 segmented rays and without a spinous first ray, an obliquely-truncate margin of caudal fin, and the lack of horizontally-elongate, stellate, dark chromatophores when the chromatophores are expanded. Denticetopsis royeroi is distinguished from D. sauli by the relative posterior extent of the margin of the maxilla (extending only slightly beyond the posterior margin of the orbit versus extending at least one eye diameter past the posterior margin of the orbit, respectively), the body depth (23% of SL versus 17.1-19.5% of SL, respectively), and the extent of the membranous connection between the caudal and anal fins (membrane without a distinct notch verus distinctly incised, respectively). Maximum size: 19 mm SL.
Range: Denticetopsis royeroi is only known from the holotype collected in a tributary to the upper Río Negro, Venezuela.
Information from Vari, R. P., C. J. Ferraris Jr. & M. C. C. de Pinna. 2005. The Neotropical whale catfishes (Siluriformes: Cetopsidae: Cetopsinae), a revisionary study. Neotropical Ichthyology 3:127-238.
|Carl J. Ferraris, Jr
2944 NE Couch St.
Portland, OR 97232
|Richard P. Vari
Washington, D.C. 20560